Section: 2016 Round 9/10 : Anglesey

2016 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship, Rounds 9 & 10

Words: Josh BarrettFeatured Photo Credit SJN Photography

As the 2016 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship moved into the second half of the season, it was still all to play for upfront, where 2015 runner-up Patrick Fletcher had managed to find a slim points lead over reigning champion James Bark in what was otherwise a perfectly alternated string of victories.

Round 9

Things didn’t change at Anglesey, where it was Fletcher who grasped pole position by 0.11 seconds from Bark, and narrowly ahead of Phil Wright and George Williams. The first race went the way of Lincolnshire-based Bark, however Fletcher had made the most of a good start to hold the lead in the opening two laps, with Bark and Williams tussling behind. The latter driver however lost out in the battle and dropped to ninth, before Bark moved through to take the lead.

It was Mark Balmer who occupied the final podium spot by the close of the shortened race, coming through from seventh on the grid to finish ahead of Wright, Williams and Trevor Gregory. Arron Sharp had been running well up in sixth place, yet a spin at Rocket dropped him to the back of the pack.

Round 10

The second outing was marred by a coming together between Williams and Balmer after a brake issue for the former driver, however Fletcher held on to take his turn on the top step after getting ahead of rival Bark on the second lap. This time it was former stock hatch frontrunner Scott Sharp who finished third ahead of Gregory and Wright, with Balmer recovering to ninth despite damage.

That single extra victory for Fletcher means that he leads the championship going in to rounds 12 and 13 (at Silverstone on 20/21 August) by 38 points before drop scores are taken into account, where the pair’s battle is unlikely to show any sign of slowing.